If you're considering taking your family on a long RV trip, and you're wondering if even the thought means you're a little bit crazy, have no fear!  You're not alone! 

Notice I didn't say you're not crazy ;) 

Luckily for you I have just recovered from a 17 day RV trip with my husband and four young children (3,5,7 and 9) and I'm going to tell you everything I learned. 

Our trip was from Singapore, where we currently live, to Perth, Australia.  We rented a campervan and drove it down and around SW WA.  For a complete overview of our journey, please visit my previous post here.  

Quick Answers: Would I go back and do this trip again?  Yes absolutely.  Would I plan another trip just like this one in the future?  No I would not, and here's why.  

I loved our campervan explorations for 12 days.  On day 13 I got a little weary of jumping directly from sandy beaches into the room where we slept.  I was over packing up a bed, locking up all our loose items, and re-installing car seats in order to drive to whatever activity we had planned for the day.  I was still having fun, but the fun was no longer completely overshadowing all that work nor the yuck factor of sleeping in a perpetually sandy bed.  There were moments when I would have paid someone a lot of money to exchange the RV life for Airbnb and rental car life for the last 4 days.  

I'm fairly certain that one thing could have solved all my woes: a trailer RV thingy (I don't claim to be an expert, y'all).  Simply being able to detach a truck from our little house would have been excellent.  No packing up every day.  No searching for RV parking in small towns or parking lots. And there would have been at least one barrier between the beach and my bed.  I'd much rather leave all that sand on the floor of a car than on the floor of my bedroom.  

I guess I won't know until we try it again, likely with our own trailer since I'm not sure you can rent those, if that would have been the perfect vacation.  Part of me still thinks Airbnb hopping would have been more relaxing.  But, I will say that there's a certain novelty and closeness in the experience of living out of an RV.  We cooked a lot of meals in RV park camp kitchens surrounded by other very diverse and friendly campers.  We fell asleep every night at the same very early hour, and woke up every morning also at an early hour.  There's something to be said about stepping out into fresh morning air just minutes after you open your eyes for the day and hearing the birds chirping in the trees.  

The kids also really enjoyed watching my husband empty the "pee pee tank." 

In an RV, as opposed to a rental house, I couldn't escape my kids.  I was surprised to find that I never wanted to, whereas normally at home I need a few minutes of "mommy time" in a quiet room.  We really enjoyed our time together on this trip.  That could be because I had my husband along for the whole ride and normally it's just me managing our little monkeys all day long.  But It was also just sweet, and fun to be so close and relax into each other for a while.  

I think everyone who is interested in RVing with their family should give it a go at least once.  After that you can make adjustments for future travels.  Just remember to enjoy the time you have while you're making mental notes for how to do it better next time! 

Quick Tips:
-Pack or buy on arrival a good floor mat to wipe feet on when you get in the RV.  
-Make sure your toiletries/shower bag is made of wipeable fabric.  
-Bring plenty of clothes pins for drying your clothes! 
-Resign yourself to lots of sunscreening.  This is going to need to happen constantly.  Try not to let it get you down. 
-Pack Clorox wipes for the floors/bathroom/counters.  You're going to want to clean things up often! 
-Establish rules from the get go with your kids about taking shoes off before you get in the RV and wiping feet before climbing into beds. I'm telling y'all, the sand really got to me!
-Plan your stops ahead of time (don't listen to your husband if he says that's not necessary) 
-Have fun!

See Also...
An Overview of Our Trip to SW WA With Kids
A Review of Pemberton Discovery Tours in Pemberton 
Peaceful Bay and Elephant Rocks
A Family Friendly New Years Eve in Perth

While you're here, it'd be neat if you'd pop over to have a peek at my photography portfolio and fine art store! 

Visit this post for an overview of our Perth campervan vacation with kids from Singapore! 

Through a series of what we later came to realize were fortunate events, we found ourselves staying in a Perth hotel in the Northbridge area with our four kids on New Years Eve 2020.  Adina Hotel was clean and had plenty of room for all of us to be comfortable. I'm not sure all that space was necessary for one night, but I wanted a living room where we could escape from sleeping babies in case some of us decided to stay up until midnight.  

We did not stay up until midnight, though, because a short walk down the street we found Perth's really fun, small town feeling New Year's Eve program for families in Yagan Square.  Apparently this was the first year they had these activities and so possibly that's why there was a nice sized but manageable crowd there that evening.  Maybe Perth really is that small?  Either way, we really enjoyed ourselves!  There were entertainers, bubbles, magic tricks (for all to try!), balloon animals, a princess on stilts, and so much more!  

We LOVED the feel of this area of Perth.  Honestly, it's the only area we saw.  Still, it was lovely, fun, family friendly, and totally walkable.  Our dinner at Hunter and Barrel was seriously delicious.  Our oldest had kangaroo on a skewer and I absolutely loved my pumpkin salad.  I love Aussie salads so so much. 

The best part of the evening was the 9pm countdown for kids!  I thought it might feel lame, but it genuinely was just as exciting and fun as waiting until midnight.  I guess when you've lived all over the world time becomes a bit relative ;) 

See Also...
An Overview of Our Trip to SW WA With Kids
A Review of Pemberton Discovery Tours in Pemberton 
An Honest Review of RVing With Kids
Peaceful Bay and Elephant Rocks

While you're here, it'd be neat if you'd pop over to have a peek at my photography portfolio and fine art store! 

We recently took a 17 day tour of Southwest Western Australia in a campervan with our four young children.  You can find an overview of our travels here.

We enjoyed a 5 night stay in Pemberton, a forested region of SW WA with natural pools, vineyard, breweries, sand dunes, beaches and famous climbing trees.  If we had to shorten our stay there are two things we would be absolutely sure not to miss.  Those two things are Windy Harbour by way of the Northcliffe art walk including a drive along the D'Entrecasteaux lookout points, and the incredibly awe inspiring Beach and Forest Eco Adventure with Pemberton Discovery Tours.

The first thing my husband said to me when I started planning this trip was, "I don't want to do any tours."  Unlike our Western Mediterranean cruise six months before where we arranged tours for all of our days on land, he wanted  this trip to be more about nature and discovery.  I totally agreed, but when I looked into things to do in Pemberton, I realized we would miss out on so much due to our lack of a 4WD.  So I booked the tour and boy am I glad we did this!

Pemberton Discovery Tours is run by a husband and wife who have been guiding these tours for over 20 years.  I think it's safe to say they know the area!  Graeme was an excellent guide.  He was very knowledgeable about the history and flora and fauna of the area.  I don't think there was one question he could not answer- and we asked a lot of questions!  Also, I'm normally nervous riding in cars on rough terrain, but he was an excellent and confident driver.  We felt completely safe the whole time. 

Our kids were absolutely amazed by the sand dunes.  They kept asking "what is a sand dune?"  "Is it on the beach?" "Is it big?" You know how kids are with their twenty (thousand) questions.  When Graeme drove up onto that first dune the kids were awestruck.  Their reactions were priceless! 

After a stroll through the Karri trees and romping around the sand dunes, Graeme took us out to see where a river meets the ocean.  Once again it was just beautiful, magical, all the things.  This tour fits its name so well because it really was about discovery. 

A few details for the parents: There are bathroom facilities along the way and a picnic lunch is provided on the way back.  Car seats were ready and waiting for my kids when we arrived and they even knew the correct way to install them!  

See Also...
An Overview of Our Trip to SW WA With Kids
An Honest Review of RVing With Kids
Peaceful Bay and Elephant Rocks
A Family Friendly New Years Eve in Perth

While you're here, it'd be neat if you'd pop over to have a peek at my photography portfolio and fine art store!